


Bad Dracula

by huangyuta



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, Fate, Fluff, Humour, M/M, Magic, Magical Elements, Mild Angst, Reincarnation, Vampires, Warlocks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-08-14 17:16:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16496828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huangyuta/pseuds/huangyuta
Summary: When he was told that college would open up a whole new world for him, this is not what Yuta expected.





	1. Something New

The sun hung high and bright in the sky and the wind was nothing more than a subtle calm breeze. Leaves, coloured red and orange, floated down slowly from the trees. Yuta, however, was everything but calm and subtle as he speeded through the streets of Seoul, busy with morning rush. He had an eight am lecture in music theory and it was currently, a quarter past. He bursted through the main entrance doors of the music building and ran a hand through his now very messy hair as he contemplated if it was worth it to join the lecture this late. He decided that he really couldn’t miss another lecture if he wanted to pass his upcoming exam and proceeded his hurrying way towards the biggest lecture hall in the building. In his hurry he accidentally threw the door open and it hit the other side of the wall with a loud bang. It’s not that Yuta minded being the center of attention, he could even enjoy it at moments, but right now his face was completely flushed and his hair stuck to his forehead as sweat rolled down his temple and there were way too many eyes on him. You could say, he felt embarrassed.

 

“I’m sorry.” Yuta apologised, violently panting. He flinched as mr Lee stared him down from the front of the room. He quickly shuffled over to the first empty seat he could find and dropped in the chair. Mr Lee continued his lecture as Yuta frantically searched his backpack for his laptop. After a minute of looking between every book and paper, he came to the conclusion that he left his laptop at home. He let out an exasperated sigh. But before he could smack his own forehead in defeat, someone pushed a piece of paper and a pen into his view. Yuta turned to the person next to him who was trying to lend him his stuff to make notes discreetly. He had never seen the boy before, but he looked kind. He had warm brown eyes and soft brown hair. He sent Yuta a small smile and nodded to the piece of paper and pen as if to say ‘just take them’. “Thank you.” Yuta whispered as he eagerly started to note down the theory on the large presentation screen behind mr Lee. Yuta spend the next 35 minutes fully focusing on his lecture and praying he didn’t smell like sweat. He would have to ask for Ten’s deodorant during the next class as he forgot to bring that with him too. Class ended within the blink of an eye and everyone started to pack their bags quickly. Yuta almost threw his borrowed pen into his bag, before realising it belonged to someone else. He turned to the side only to be met with an empty chair. Yuta didn’t understand how he missed someone pushing past his chair as he was the one at the end of the path, but he decided not to worry too much about it. He shoved the pen into his pocket and threw his backpack over his shoulder. He would give the pen back if he ever ran into the stranger again. Right now, Yuta had to hurry again. It was a few minutes after nine, but his anatomy class started at nine sharp. Bless college and its incredible schedules. So, Yuta sprinted through the hallways once again. He threw the doors open once more and ran across campus in search for the science building. He was lucky this time, as his teacher wasn’t in the room yet. Yuta quickly spotted a head of pink hair and took a seat next to him.

 

“Why were you late at music theory? You’re lucky mr Lee didn’t give you extra homework.” Taeyong chastised.

 

“I started rewatching Inuyasha last night. I was supposed to only watch a few episodes, but suddenly it was four am. So I slept through my alarm.” Yuta admitted sheepishly. “Also mr Lee would never do that, he loves me.”

 

“He would literally murder you if he heard you right now.” Taeyong gave him an unimpressed look, fiddling with the pages of the book in front of him.

 

“What’s he gonna do? Punch my kneecaps?” Yuta snorted as he pulled his anatomy book and work assignments from his backpack. Someone behind him cleared their throat and he froze. Yuta slowly turned around, not before giving Taeyong a death glare as the latter laughed at him. “Good morning mr Yoon.” He feigned innocence.

 

“I really wished you would respect your elders more, mr Nakamoto.” His teacher sniffed.  

 

“Yes sir!” Yuta prepared one of his brightest smiles. Sadly, mr Yoon wasn’t impressed by it at all and just walked away.

 

“Sometimes I really wonder how you haven’t been kicked out of college for being a loudmouth.” Taeyong shook his head in amusement.

 

“I’m not a loudmouth, I just think teachers deserve the same respect they give us.” Yuta playfully stuck out his tongue as his pink haired friend scoffed at him.

 

“He’s right.” Someone said as they sat down in the empty seat next to Yuta.

 

“Ten!” Yuta exclaimed while throwing his arms around his younger friend and roommate. “Why didn’t you wake me up when I slept through my alarm?” He asked as he clung to smaller guy.

 

“I tried to, but you pushed me away while muttering something about wanting to go back to your dream about Miroku.” Ten explained as he pried Yuta’s arms from his shoulders.

 

“I do have a vague memory of that, yeah.” Yuta said thoughtfully. Ten finally managed to remove Yuta from his upper body, but not before the latter ruffled his hair.

 

“You’re so clingy, geez.” The smaller boy said as he tried to fix his hair before class started. Mr Yoon was still trying to figure out how to start up his powerpoint presentation.

 

“You literally crawled into my bed two nights ago because you wanted to cuddle.” Yuta deadpanned.

 

“I was cold.” Ten said as he threw an eraser at Yuta’s head.

 

“Mr Leechaiyapornkul, behave.” Ten’s mouth fell open, since mr Yoon was still busy with the computer and had his back turned to the class.

 

“H-how did he-” Ten stammered as he retrieved his eraser from Yuta.

 

“Okay, silence everyone. On the board you’ll find which assignments you have to finish at the end of this class. You’re allowed to make them by yourself, although I would prefer it if you worked together with your group.” Mr Yoon waved his hand dismissively and everyone went to work. Taeyong opened his book as Ten read their assignments out loud. They had two hours, but if they worked hard they could be done by ten am. Yuta opened his assignment book and grabbed his borrowed pen from his pocket.

 

“How did you get that pen?” Taeyong asked curiously.

 

“I borrowed it from the guy I sat next to during music theory.” Yuta shrugged as he started to list down all the muscle names in the upper arm.

 

“Weird.” Taeyong narrowed his eyes as he eyed the pen suspiciously, he clearly recognized it.

 

“It’s just a pen?” Yuta was confused, he didn’t understand what was so special about the pen. He inspected it. It was a simple thin black pen with a simple white font that said ‘Miss Bae inc’. It sounded familiar, but before Yuta could ask Taeyong about it they got interrupted.

 

“Oh my god, who cares where the pen is from. Can we please start the assignments so we can leave earlier.” Ten whined.

 

“Fine, fine.” Taeyong rolled his eyes while he finally found the right page and the three went to work. The pen now long forgotten.

 

They worked so diligently on their assignments, they even got compliments from mr Yoon. However, this also made Yuta forgot to ask for Ten’s deodorant until it was brought up.

 

“Yuta, why do you smell like sweat? Practice didn’t even start yet.” Sicheng asked innocently. Yuta’s eyes widened as he pulled at the laces of his sneakers. They were currently in one of the changing rooms, their shared contemporary class about to start.  

 

“Uh, yeah. I had to run to class this morning.” Yuta scratched the back of his neck with his hand in embarrassment. He completely forgot to ask for Ten’s deodorant and was mortified at the thought of everyone smelling him during class. Luckily, they were the only people left in the room so he saved himself from even more embarrassment.  

 

“It’s not that bad, don’t worry. Here you can use my deodorant.” Sicheng offered and Yuta took the small spray can gladly. Their fingers touched and Yuta jumped slightly as Sicheng’s hand felt unnaturally cold.

 

“Wow, why are your hands so cold?” Yuta asked curiously as he sprayed his armpits.

 

“It’s cold outside.” Sicheng said simply.

 

“Sicheng, look outside. It almost feels like summer never left.” Yuta deadpanned while cursing global warming under his breath.

The Chinese boy only shrugged before taking his deodorant back and walking away, leaving Yuta alone in the dressing room. He quickly shoved his other clothes into a locker and followed the younger into the training room, joining Ten and Taeyong at the front. Mr Lee and miss Kim took place in front of the group of students. They actually prefered to be called Taemin and Hyoyeon, but Yuta still found it a bit awkward to call his teachers by their first names. Hyoyeon clapped her hands together, to ask for the class’ attention. The soft muttering that was still hanging in the room disappeared as everyone focused on the two instructors in front of the mirror wall.

 

Class begun and Yuta’s bad luck of being late and forgetting his stuff spread into their dance routine. He kept being a beat off or simply forgetting the choreo they were practicing. Both Taemin and Hyoyeon weren’t in a good mood and made everyone do push ups after every mistake on top of the harsh warm up they did beforehand. So to say he was exhausted and a little bit friendless at the end of class was an understatement.

 

“How.” Yuta panted heavily. “How are you still functioning normally?” He asked when Sicheng sat down next to him against the back wall of the room. He eyed the Chinese boy suspiciously as there seemed to be not a single bead of sweat or any indication of flushed cheeks visible on his face. Yuta averted his gaze to Ten and Taeyong who were spread out on the floor a few feet to his right glaring daggers at him. He shot them a sympathetic smile, but only got a wild variety of profanities and middle fingers back.

 

“I’m in good shape.” Sicheng said, gazing over to the area where Ten and Taeyong were still in a pathetic panting pile.

 

“So are Ten and Taeyong.” Yuta said with a little bit too enthusiastic hand gestures. “Wait nevermind I watched Ten live on nothing but instant ramen and soda without practicing during break.” Ten shot him an even stronger death glare. “But Taeyong is in good shape.” He assured.  

 

Sicheng only shrugged before handing over his water bottle to Yuta. His hands were still almost freezing cold, but Yuta kept his snarky remarks to himself this time. He was extremely tired and all thoughts of his friend’s rather curious state of well being fled from his mind as exhaustion sank deep into his bones.

 

It was only after an embarrassingly long time of recovering from that hellish dance class, that Ten and Yuta finally made it back to their shared apartment. Ten immediately made a run for the couch and flopped on his stomach rather ungracefully, his face hitting the cushion with a loud smack. Yuta only spared him a semi worried glance before stumbling over to the kitchen island. There were four chairs placed at the side without a sink and stove and Yuta plopped on one of them, dropping his bag on the stool next to his. His laptop was still on the counter in front of him from where he had forgotten it that morning. He turned it on and typed in his password. Yuta scrunched his nose up in disgust when he noticed that his fingers were still clammy and sticky from sweat, but he figured that a shower would make him too drowsy. He still had an essay to write and that came first. Taeyong would have disagreed and manhandled him into the shower, but what he didn’t know didn’t hurt him. Yuta was about to start when he heard Ten snoring. Suppressing an annoyed groan, he started to search his backpack for his earphones while simultaneously being impressed by Ten being able to sleep that fast and in that position. Butt in the air and his face smashed into the sofa cushion. Instead of earphones, Yuta’s fingers curled around smooth plastic. He pulled out the pen he was given earlier by that mysterious boy in his lecture. Yuta ran his fingers over the white words on it once more.

 

“Miss Bae inc. Where have I heard that before?” He said aloud. Ten stirred in his sleep and Yuta immediately clasped his hand over his mouth. He remained silent as he typed the engraving from the pen into the Google search bar. Within seconds multiple links to different articles filled his screen. ‘Miss Bae’s home for outstanding talent has debuted yet another big star’ ‘Miss Bae inc rumoured to be a money laundering business’ ‘Miss Bae inc is not a money laundering business’ ‘Irene Bae from Miss Bae inc rumoured to be a vampire’ ‘Miss Bae inc shows support for equal rights movement’. Yuta had to scroll all the way down the first page before he actually found a link to an article explaining what Miss Bae inc actually includes.

 

“Miss Bae inc is an entertainment company that puts people from all kinds of backgrounds with many different talents into the spotlight.” Yuta whispered to himself, making sure Ten didn’t wake up. “The company takes in people with extraordinary talents that would have gone to waste because of money and or family issues. Miss Bae inc has debuted all kinds of different artists, diverging from classical musicians to pop singers and painters.” The website then gave an example in the form of pop star Tiffany Young, someone Yuta definitely heard of. At least he figured out why the company sounded so familiar. “150 years ago an institute for these talents was founded where they are given a place to stay and an appropriate scholarship. Miss Bae inc is a family business and has yet to reveal how they pick their talents and how people get into the program. Miss Bae’s home for outstanding talents can be found in the suburbs of Seoul.” Yuta thought of the warm brown eyed boy from that morning and couldn’t help but wonder if he was under Miss Bae’s company. He probably was since he had a company pen, but Yuta had never seen him before and he figured that he would’ve noticed a boy with outstanding talent. The boy couldn’t be a dancer, because Yuta recognised every dance major no matter what year they were in. He was in a music theory lecture, so he probably did something music related. It might be none of Yuta’s business, but he couldn’t help his curious self. His mother used to praise his unusual curious nature when he was younger, but Yuta himself knew it was mostly a penchant for getting in trouble. Still, he would keep an eye out for this boy.

 

 

 

The next morning, Yuta woke up on time for once. Last night’s choice to skip his anime binge seemed to be a good one. He rolled out of bed and into his clothes, not literally he put them on a like a normal person and went straight for the kitchen. He had already scarfed down his daily portion of rice and eggs when Ten finally emerged from his room.

 

“I hate everything.” Ten muttered before face planting into the sofa once again.

 

“Good morning to you too.” Yuta scoffed as he rinsed his bowl before putting it in the dishwasher.

 

“My muscles hurt.” Ten whined, his voice muffled from where his mouth was mushed against the cushion.

 

“Well that’s your own fault, you should’ve kept up with the exercise assignments over the break.” Yuta walked over to sofa and ruffled Ten’s unkempt black locks.

 

“It’s your fault we had to do like a thousand extra pushups.” Ten removed his face from the cushion to scowl at his friend.

 

“That’s fair.” Yuta huffed. He squatted down to Ten’s eye level and gave him one of his best dazzling smiles. “I’m sorry, Tennie.” He tried to ignore the pain in his own muscles.

 

“I can’t stay mad at you when you smile like that, this is so unfair.” Ten started to trash around causing him to almost fall to the ground. Yuta simply snorted before making his way back to the kitchen. He put his laptop in his bag and looked at the black pen with white writing that was still on the counter. After a moment of consideration he stuffed it in his backpack, he might run into the boy again and he wanted to give his pen back. And maybe that was just an excuse to figure out who he was, but no one needed to know that. He closed the door behind him as Ten finally stopped moping and got up for breakfast. The now suddenly colder autumn air bit Yuta’s cheeks as he started his stroll to school.

 

The streets were much calmer and emptier than the day before. It was later in the morning, since Yuta’s first class only started at 10 am, which means the morning rush had already passed. He walked past many rows of houses, mostly filled with older citizens as his apartment was in the outer suburbs of Seoul. He was lucky his college was near the outskirts of the big busy city. Seoul was known as the city that never sleeps and although Yuta could appreciate the city life, he was glad he could have at least a little bit of calmth. He walked past a kindergarten courtyard where little children were playing around and it brought a smile to his face. Yuta passed a pair of teachers talking at the side of the courtyard and couldn’t help but overhear their conversation.

 

“I heard people were protesting again, they want to make vampires illegal in all of South Korea.” The taller of the two said, her face scrunched up in a sour look.

 

“Again? We haven’t had a vampire attack in a year and a half.” The shorter one scoffed.

 

“Exactly, there are more people attacking other people than there are vampires attacking us.” The tall one said.

 

“Ridiculous!” Was the last thing Yuta heard before his slow pace would become suspicious. He quickened his pace again, his smile no longer on his face. He hadn’t heard about the protests yet, they had stopped for a while. But ever since China had banned vampires all together protests had started around the world. There were a lot of people who wanted their governments to follow China, because they were scared and felt threatened. Yuta was glad the two teachers didn’t fall under that category. They were right, a lot more people died because of other people than of vampires. Although Yuta had to admit that vampires weren’t on his mind a lot. He had never met one, that he was aware of. They usually kept low, hiding as living people because of the overwhelmingly large amount of hate they received everywhere they went. Luckily it was mostly the older generation with that mindset, the younger ones were much more tolerant. That didn’t change the fact that Seoul had laws that allowed schools to kick out vampire students if they thought of them as a threat. Maybe that was the reason he still hadn’t run into one, not even at college where he never met anyone that hated them. Yuta thought about how many vampires might go to his college, if there were any in his major. Anyone he’d ever met could be one, one of the teachers he just passed might be a vampire. But he would most likely never know, for they never reveal themselves. Yuta was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice his own arrival at his college’s campus. He was shook out of it when he two hands grabbed his shoulders to stop him from bumping into to someone.

 

“Wow, where are you going zoned out like that?” He was met with a worried Sicheng.

 

“Oh, hi.” Yuta began sheepishly. “Sorry, I was just thinking.” Sicheng gave him an understanding smile before dropping the grasp he had on Yuta’s shoulders.

 

“That’s okay.” He reassured. “I’m glad I bumped into you, I was looking for you anyway.”

 

“Oh, what for?” Yuta asked curiously as he rubbed his hands together to warm them up a little bit.

 

“You only have two classes today right?” Yuta nodded, his hair falling into his eyes. “Do you wanna join my ballet class at two pm? Miss Myoui would love to have you over again.” Sicheng fiddled with the hem of his sleeves and only now did Yuta notice that his friend wasn’t wearing a coat.

 

“Yeah sure. But I don’t have any appropriate clothing with me, I only brought a pair of sweatpants.” Yuta made a mental note to wash his only pair of leggings tonight as his contemporary classes were starting again soon.

 

“I have an extra pair of tights that you can borrow.” Sicheng assured him.

 

“Okay then. I just hope I’m not too stiff.” Yuta chuckled as he let Sicheng pull him into the main college building.

 

“You’ll do great.”

 

His first class went by fairly quickly even if he was without friends, Ten and Taeyong both did ballroom dancing whereas Yuta chose tap as an extra class. Before he knew it, it was lunch and all thoughts about vampires had vanished. That was until Taeyong brought it up.

 

“Did you hear that the protests started again?” Taeyong asked mournfully after he and Johnny joined Yuta and Ten at one of the cafeteria’s tables.

 

“Yeah, I heard about it this morning. People are so stupid.” Ten rolled his eyes as he freed his sandwich from its wrapping.

 

“It’s just sad to be honest.” Johnny started, taking the tangerine Taeyong was offering him. “The hatred for vampires runs so deep that people actually want to ban them from the whole country.” Johnny said incredulously as he peeled his tangerine.

 

“They say that they’re scared, but the really have no reason to be.” Taeyong agreed with Johnny before opening his mouth, allowing the latter to feed him a tangerine part.

 

“Capitalism and student loans are way scarier.” Yuta shivered.

 

“You’re not wrong.” Ten snorted. “Also, before I forget to ask. Johnny, could you look over my essay and point out my grammar mistakes?” He asked, changing the subject.

 

“Sure, I have time after my next class. Do you guys wanna meet up later for a study session at the library?” Johnny asked while chewing tangerine. He flinched when Taeyong gave him a scolding flick to the forehead.

 

“I can’t, I’m joining Sicheng’s ballet class for today.” Yuta frowned. He was not looking forward to putting even more strain on his already sore muscles, but he couldn’t disappoint his friend.

 

“Oh really? How come he never asks me?” Ten pouted.

 

“He’s probably scared of you.” Taeyong snorted. Before Ten could protest, Johnny interrupted their conversation.

 

“I still have half an hour left, but if you three want to make it to your next class you better hurry.” He said, looking at his watch. Johnny handed the pile of tangerine peels to Taeyong who was holding his hand out while getting up. “Tell Sicheng I said hello. And I’ll see you two later?” Ten and Taeyong left with obnoxious see you laters while Yuta bid his farewells. Taeyong stopped by the trashcan before running after his friends, on their way to dance history. Ten used their one hour lecture for an impromptu nap and bribed Yuta into taking notes for him while Taeyong stared at them disapprovingly.

 

Yuta listened to mr Kwon intently, the manga Ten promised him in the back of his mind. However, after his two classes he was already exhausted. He loved dancing more than anything, but his focus was already off from actively participating in his other classes. So he couldn’t help but sigh when he saw his tall blond friend walking up to him. Yuta followed Sicheng into the ballet changing rooms. While Sicheng was greeted immediately and got sucked into conversations, Yuta stayed behind and switched his jeans for a pair of his taller friend’s tights. His legs were thicker than Sicheng’s, but he was still a couple centimeters smaller so the tights were a bit too big. Yuta’s waist was also smaller than his friend’s and he let out a frustrated sigh as he struggled to keep everything in place.

 

“Let me help you.” A melodic voice said. Yuta felt a tug at the back of the waistband of his tights and tried not to feel embarrassed as he let the mysterious voice fix his clothing for him.

 

“Thank you.” He said sheepishly. He shivered as the cold metal of a safety pin dug into his back, before turning around to face whoever had helped him. Yuta was met with a familiar pair of warm brown eyes. “It’s you.” Was the only thing he could provide as the other boy stared at him with wide imploring eyes, something akin to mild amusement glazed over them.

 

“Do you two know each other?” Yuta almost jumped as he hadn’t noticed Sicheng walking up to them. “Well it doesn’t matter right now, class is starting and you know miss Myoui doesn’t like to wait.” Sicheng said before dragging Yuta into the practice room by his elbow with the mysterious boy on their heels. “Here he is.” The Chinese boy said when he pushed Yuta in front of the ballet teacher.

 

“Thank you, Sicheng.” She smiled softly before waving him and the mysterious boy away. Yuta’s eyes followed the boy to the grand piano he hadn’t noticed before as he took place behind it. Yuta was right, he was not a dancer. “How have you been?” Miss Myoui asked him, switching from Korean to Japanese. Yuta sighed lighthearted. It was always nice and way more comfortable to speak in his mother tongue.

 

“I’ve been doing alright. How about you, miss Myoui?” Yuta asked politely as he watched Sicheng stretch in the mirrors.

 

“I’m doing great, thank you. You haven’t been getting in any trouble lately, have you?” Yuta thought it was a rather ominous question and was slightly taken aback. Sometimes he wondered if miss Myoui might be an old friend of his mother and was asked to keep an eye out for him.

 

“Of course not, why would I?” Yuta asked rather confused. Miss Myoui’s eyes had a strange look to them, one Yuta couldn’t decipher.

 

“Just checking. Shall we start?” She smiled, the strange look gone. Yuta simply nodded before taking place next to Sicheng and following his stretching instructions. He felt the ballet teacher’s gaze on him for a moment longer, before she finally took place in front of the class. She began the intro and soon after Yuta was spinning pirouettes. He was less stiff than expected, but still nowhere near the ballet dancers’ level. Yuta managed to pull off an arabesque and some of the basics, but he decided to sit at the side when they went over some more complicated stuff. He watched Sicheng do the splits in mid air with glee. Yuta tapped his fingers on the floor in beat of the piano music. His eyes fell on the grand piano, only now realising that’s where the music came from. The mysterious boy was sitting behind it, eyes focused on the keys. Yuta figured that miss Myoui lets the music majors practice while providing her lessons with music. At least, that’s what he thought the guy majored in. Yuta didn’t notice himself staring until the mysterious boy’s eyes met his, the piano no longer making noise. He shot him a soft smile and Yuta found himself smiling back. It was only until Sicheng stood in his line of sight that he averted his gaze.

 

“We have a ten minute break.” Sicheng smiled, his bleached hair falling into his eyes due him looking down at Yuta on the ground. He extended his hand forward and Yuta gladly took it, allowing the taller to pull him up. He followed his friend to the other side of the room where all the water bottles were strewn around. Yuta was throwing back half of Sicheng’s bottle when someone approached them.

 

“Are you done after this class, Sicheng?” Yuta perked up at the now familiar melodic voice.

 

“Yes, we can head home together.” Sicheng smiled at the mysterious boy. His eyes fell on Yuta and Sicheng seemed to remember the incident in the changing rooms. “Oh, yeah. How do you two know each other? I mean, you’re both my friends but I’ve never seen you talk to each other.” He sounded a bit skeptical.

 

“We don’t, but he saved my ass from mr Lee and lend me things to take notes. I was late yesterday and forgot almost everything.” Yuta explained sheepishly as he watched Sicheng mouth an ‘oh’. “I’m Yuta, by the way. Thanks for yesterday.”

 

“Nice to finally meet you.” The other chuckled, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he stuck out his hand. Yuta took Sicheng’s friend’s hand in his, the ice like touch making him jump slightly. Something cold and but not necessarily daunting crept up his spine, almost like a premonition. “I’m Kun.”  


	2. Pierrot laughs at us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laughter builds a friendship, signalling the start of a new beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!   
> Another reminder that english isn't my first language and that I apologise for any grammar or spelling errors.

Kun smiled at the boy across from him, the other’s hand pleasantly warm against his own cold one. Yuta’s eyes had a certain look in them and Kun recognized it as curiousity. Curiousity aimed at him. Before either could say something, miss Myoui interrupted them. Signaling the group of students that practice would be continued. Kun watched Sicheng and Yuta walk off to the center of the room and take place in the first ballet position. Kun watched the two move gracefully along the music he was providing. His fingers danced over the keys, following a Tchaikovsky tune which was mostly muscle memory at his point. Kun watched them as they went through one of the first routines they ever learnt, Sicheng smoother than Yuta. At the end of the routine Yuta’s chest was moving up and down rather quickly, sweat trickled down his temples while Sicheng was completely unaffected. Kun laughed to himself as he heard Yuta complain to Sicheng that it wasn’t fair how the latter didn’t sweat. Maybe one day he’d figure it out. Kun turned his focus back to the piano and the keys underneath his finger before he could make a mistake and be caught staring. He continued the melody for the rest of class.

 

At the end of Sicheng’s ballet class, Yuta was wrecked. Miss Myoui might look really patient and sweet, but she accepted nothing less than perfect. He gladly gulped the rest of Sicheng’s drink down in one go as the younger had insisted he didn’t need it anyway. Yuta let Sicheng manhandle him into the changing room where the former plopped onto the ground to massage his sore feet and legs. 

 

“You would think that after all these years of dancing your feet and muscles would get used to it more.” Sicheng grinned looking down at Yuta on the floor. 

 

“I wish.” Yuta groaned as he took Sicheng’s slightly too big spare ballet shoes he borrowed off. “How are you not dying from painful feet right now?” Before Sicheng could respond, Kun entered the changing room and caught Yuta’s attention. For some reason he really intrigued the Japanese boy. He walked up to Yuta and Sicheng and said something to the latter in Chinese. When he turned to meet Yuta’s gaze Yuta seemed to snap out of it and remember the pen still in his backpack. When he found it he tapped Kun’s knee as Yuta was still sitting on the floor.

 

“Your pen.” Yuta said softly. He saw Sicheng’s eyes widen as his gaze landed on the white words written on the pen and he said something else in Chinese to Kun. Kun shrugged at what the younger said and Yuta watched Sicheng’s frown get more apparent with interest. As if Yuta wasn’t meant to know about Miss Bae Inc. 

 

“Anything wrong?” Yuta asked, waving the pen around until Kun finally took it from him. 

 

“No, there is nothing wrong. Thank you.” Kun smiled before sending Sicheng a strange look and bidding his farewells. Yuta watched Kun walk out of the changing rooms as he heard Sicheng sit down next to him. 

 

“Are you two friends or something?” He asked the blond curiously.

 

“We’re roommates.” Sicheng huffed as he peeled his shoes of his feet. He hissed at what Yuta guessed was a blister, although it didn’t sound sincere. 

 

“Why didn’t I know your roommate? Why didn’t I know you even had a roommate?” Yuta asked. He ran a hand through his hair and cringed at how wet with sweat it was.

 

“Because we never talked about it.” Sicheng said simply while putting his socks on.

 

“You barely talk about yourself though, I don’t even know where you live.” Yuta noticed suddenly. 

 

“Well it isn’t really important.”

 

“You’re my friend, of course it is.” 

 

“I’m your friend?” Yuta turned to meet Sicheng, slightly startled by the vulnerability in his voice. 

 

“Yes.” Yuta said as if it couldn’t be more obvious. Sicheng beamed at him and he forgot all about his worries.

 

“I have to go. I’ll see you later, friend.” Sicheng send Yuta another smile before swinging his backpack over his shoulder and leaving the room. 

 

Yuta sat in the empty changing room for a few moments longer, trying to make something of the information he got today. It felt like his mind was trying to tell him something, but he couldn’t understand the tangled web of hints in his head. Yuta decided to try to get Sicheng to open up to him more. As much as he respected the other’s privacy, they were still friend and Yuta had to admit that it kind of hurt his feelings that he barely knew anything about Sicheng. But for now he would shove it far down his brain and focus on other things, like his other dance class tomorrow and how much muscle pains it would add to what he already had. He let out a groan at the thought and finally decided to get up and pack his stuff. 

 

Ten was already home when Yuta walked into their shared apartment. Like usual, he was was face down sprawled onto the couch. 

 

“Why are you already back? I thought you went to the library with Johnny and Taeyong.” Ten let out a groan at that.

 

“Yeah, I did go with them. But I left after 30 minutes because they kept looking at each other with heart eyes and it was too cheesy to witness.” Ten flopped over on the couch to look at Yuta. “They didn’t even notice I left, they’re so whipped for each other it’s almost gross.”

 

“You’re just jealous, because you have nobody to look at like  _ that. _ ” Yuta rolled his eyes as he dropped his bag next to the coffee table. He pushed Ten’s legs from the couch and sat down next to him. 

 

“You’re single too, asshole.” Ten huffed as he put his legs in Yuta’s lap. “Also, I’m pretty sure no one will ever look at me the way those two look at each other.”

 

“Good point. Taeyong and Johnny are practically married why are they still so deep in denial. I don’t understand.” Yuta wondered aloud. 

 

“Johnny told me something about being scared of rejection, which is stupid because I’m pretty sure he could ask Taeyong to rob a bank for him and he would actually do it.” Ten kicked Yuta’s thigh softly as the latter let out a loud snort. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, something they would do surprisingly often. They could be rather loud, especially when together. But it almost felt like their true self came through when they were alone like this, just sitting in each other’s comfort. 

 

“Did you know that Sicheng has a roommate?” Yuta asked, breaking the silence. 

 

“No, because Sicheng never talks to me.” Ten whined.

 

“I forgot about you crush on him. I think you just intimidate him.” Yuta laughed as he dodged the kick Ten aimed at his head. 

 

“I do not have a crush on him, I just think he’s cute.” Ten mumbled. “Who’s his roommate anyways?” He asked, trying to change the topic.

 

“His name is Kun, he plays piano.” Yuta said while giving Ten as consoling pat on his shin. 

 

“Never heard off.”

 

“I also didn’t hear of him until today. He’s quite mysterious.” Yuta admitted, although it might just be his overthinking brain who decided that. 

 

“He intrigues you.” Ten said, it wasn’t a question. Yuta simply nodded. “You’ve always been into mysterious types.” Ten wiggled his eyebrows and Yuta immediately knew what his friend meant. 

 

“Doyoung really wasn’t mysterious, you just like drama and made him mysterious in your head.” Yuta deadpanned. His gut twisted a bit at the thought of Doyoung. 

 

“You still miss him, don’t you?” Ten asked, his voice suddenly way softer. 

 

“Of course.” Yuta replied, a bittersweet smile on his lips. It has been a while since he last saw him, but the thought of the other still made his heart hurt a bit.  

 

“Sorry for bringing him up.” Ten said sheepishly. 

 

“It’s okay, I’m okay.” Yuta assured his friend.  

 

“I believe you.” Ten smiled softly. He sat up and ruffled Yuta’s hair making the latter groan in annoyance. 

 

“I hope you enjoy my sweaty hair in between your fingers.” Yuta snorted. 

 

“Gross!” Ten exclaimed. Laughter filled the apartment.

 

\---

 

It took Yuta three days before he ran into Kun again. They almost bumped into each other when Yuta rounded a corner near the on campus cafeteria. 

 

“Oh, hi.” Yuta said sheepishly as he grabbed Kun’s shoulders to steady him and keep them from bumping into each other.

 

“Hello.” Kun said a bit breathlessly, having been startled by Yuta just a few seconds earlier. Yuta looked at the other for a bit. He noticed that he and Kun were the exact same height and he decided that he quite liked that. Yuta’s mind reminded him that he was still holding onto Kun’s shoulders and he quickly let go before it got too awkward. 

 

“Do you have class right now?” Yuta asked, pointing to the large red staircase behind him that led to the art department. 

 

“Oh no, I just got done.” Kun shrugged before continuing. “But I’m staying to work on some things.” 

 

“You’re a music major right?” Yuta guessed. It would make the most sense if he provided the ballet classes with live music.   

 

“Yeah, how did you know?” Kun asked curiously, an amused smile displayed on his lips. People started to enter the cafeteria since it was near lunchtime and Yuta grabbed Kun’s arm again and dragged him to the side of the hallway before speaking again.

 

“Well, I don’t think any student would use their precious time to play live music for a ballet class unless it came in some sort of extra credit.” Yuta chuckled as Kun let out a dramatic gasp. 

 

“What if I’m just an angel and doing this out of my own kindness?” Kun faked offence. 

 

“I bet.” Yuta hummed. “But you’re also a college student, probably broke too.” 

 

“Damn, you’re right.” Kun bit back a smile. “Mr Lee can be pretty strict, I need these extra credits.” He groaned. 

 

“I feel you.” Yuta laughed. “Are you working on anything right now?” 

 

“I am, we’re supposed to compose our own piano piece.” Kun frowned a bit and Yuta decided that he didn’t like such a somber look on him. 

 

“Supposed to?” Yuta raised an eyebrow in confusion.

 

“It’s a part of our midterms and I already wrote a big part of it, but it just doesn’t feel good enough.” Kun’s jaw was set with frustration and Yuta could really sympathize with that. He’s had to create multiple choreographies on his own and sometimes everything just feels bad and wrong. He gave the other a sympathizing smile before Kun continued. “Taeil says I shouldn’t be so hard on myself and that my piece is plenty good so far, but I don’t know.” Kun bit his lip in what Yuta recognized as worry.

 

“Could I listen to it some time? Maybe I can give you an opinion you would only get from someone who has absolutely no experience when it comes to composing.” Yuta gestured a bit too wildly with his hand as he didn’t know where he was going with his request. 

 

“Hmm, I don’t know.” Kun started. Yuta averted his eyes and picked at his nails in embarrassment, afraid that he had gotten on too strong. “I usually only let really close friends or my teachers listen to my own composed pieces.” 

 

“I would like to make a new friend.” Yuta tried. Relief flooded through him as he heard Kun laugh. 

 

“I’ll make an exception for you.” Yuta looked up and was met with Kun’s soft smile and sparkles in his eyes. “I’m practicing in one of the music room this afternoon, so you can just drop by when you’re done with class.” Kun nodded to the pile of books in Yuta’s hands.

 

“Oh right, I have class.” Yuta remembered. It took a moment to sink in and Kun only watched in amusement. “Fuck, I have class!” 

 

“I’ll see you later.” Kun yelled after him as Yuta was already speeding away.

 

“Yes, bye!” Yuta raised his voice before rounding the corner and running off to class.

 

\---   

Yuta dropped in the seat next to Taeyong and tried to catch his breath. Luckily the teacher was too busy with writing something on the whiteboard to notice Yuta’s late arrival. 

 

“Why are you so late? I thought you had a free period before this?” Taeyong whispered while simultaneously taking notes. Yuta watched him write full sentences without looking at his notebook in awe for a few seconds before responding. 

 

“I ran into Kun.” Yuta whispered back while opening the wrong book. 

 

“Who’s Kun?” 

 

“Sicheng’s friend.” Yuta said absentmindedly as he searched through his stack of books for the right one. Taeyong let out an inpatient sigh and pulled out one with surprising ease and handed it to Yuta. It was the right one.

 

“Yeah, I still don’t know who that is.” 

 

“He’s also Sicheng’s roommate.” Ten added from the other side of Taeyong. 

 

“Please be quiet, mr Leechaiyapornkul.” Their teacher said without looking away from the whiteboard she was still writing on. 

 

“Why is it always me? This is so unfair.” Ten hissed as Yuta and Taeyong suppressed their chuckles. 

 

“Tell me later, okay?” Taeyong whispered. Yuta nodded before letting Taeyong turn back to his notes. Yuta opened the right book at last and decided that actually writing some things done wouldn’t hurt anybody. Luckily class flew by as it was only an hour long, 50 minutes for Yuta due to being late, and the three were outside the classroom just as quickly. 

 

“Can we invite Taeyong over for a movie marathon so he can cook for us?” Ten asked Yuta as they made their way to the main hall. 

 

“Go ahead, I’m not going home just yet.” Yuta chuckled as Taeyong glared at Ten. 

 

“I can’t today, I’m going to the new arcade in town with Johnny. We’re going out for dinner after.” Taeyong tried to sound neutral, but the blush on his cheeks gave him away.

 

“Oh, like a date?” Ten teased, his eyebrows wiggling. Yuta joined and had to duck to avoid getting smacked by his older friend. 

 

“It’s not a date, we’re just hanging out.” Taeyong grumbled. 

 

“Are you sure? I mean, you’re blushing like crazy.” Yuta joined the teasing. 

 

“I’m not affected by this at all. It’s just the fact that I will get teased by you two that makes me heat up, you dicks.” Taeyong snapped, although there was no real bite to his words. 

 

“Sounds like a date to me.” Ten mumbled under his breath, it was still loud enough for Yuta to hear. 

 

“Yuta, why aren’t you going home?” Taeyong asked suddenly, probably trying to change the subject. Yuta thought for a moment. He wasn’t sure how to address Kun. They had only met two times. 

 

“I’m meeting a new friend.” Yuta decided on. “Speaking of that, I still need to get something from the cafeteria. So, I’ll see you at home Ten and Taeyong tell Johnny I said hi.” He said while walking past the main entrance. Taeyong and Ten only waved at him, looking a bit confused. Yuta would tell them later. 

 

\---

 

Yuta peeked through the last door in the hallway with practice rooms. He sighed with relief as he had finally reached the right room. He had opened multiple empty rooms filled with instruments and had accidentally walked in on a dude named Wonpil who was practicing with a keyboard. But fortunately, this room contained Kun. His back faced Yuta and his fingers fiddled with a corner on the piece of paper Kun was looking at. Yuta closed the door behind, to not startle the boy behind the piano. But Kun spoke up before the lock even clickled. 

 

“How was class?” He asked without turning around. Yuta tried to put his bag down next to the door while trying not to drop the two coffee cups he was holding.

 

“How did you hear me come in?” Yuta huffed as he finally managed to put his bag down. Kun turned around on the little bench in front of the grand piano and smiled at Yuta.

 

“I have good hearing.” He said simply.

 

“Makes sense. I brought you a latte.” Yuta said, handing over one of the two coffee cups. “I don’t know your order, so I just brought something simple.” 

 

“You didn’t have to bring me anything, but a latte is perfectly fine. I kinda like everything.” Kun took the cup from Yuta with both hands and took a careful sip. “Thank you.”

 

For a moment a kind of awkward silence stretched between them and Yuta internly cringed a bit. “What’s that piece of paper you were reading before I rudely interrupted you.” Yuta joked, trying to break the ice.

 

“My music sheet.” Kun explained. He put his coffee cup down on the table next to the piano and gestured for Yuta to come closer. Yuta stepped forward and looked at the notes on the rather battered piece of paper. He had learned to read sheet music and remembered enough to see that Kun’s piece was incredibly complicated. 

 

“Wow, you’re really talented.” Yuta said honestly. Even if he could read the sheet he could never play it, not with his two years of practice when he was a kid. 

 

“You’re overestimating me. It’s really not that good.” Kun’s face fell a bit and took Yuta’s with it. 

 

“Let me be the judge of that.” Yuta challenged. He put his coffee next to Kun’s and pushed himself up on the table.

 

“Straight to business, I see.” Kun snorted. 

 

“Yep.” He said, popping the ‘p’. Kun sat back down on the bench and let his fingers ghost over the keys. Yuta noticed that he was nervous. Kun let out a soft sigh, almost inaudible and pressed down the first key. 

 

It took a moment to built up, the beginning feeling rather boring. But the moment Yuta stopped paying attention to every key, the melody grabbed him by his throat. The air felt colder and colder with every note that spilled from the piano. The melody curled along his spine like a whisper and raised hairs in his neck. It built up and fell down again, like waves crashing on the shore. Yuta closed his eyes and let the music carry him to a different place. His skin prickled as if ghosts were passing his sides. An eerie feeling formed in gut and squeezed his lungs. The melody filled his head like whispers of people that have long passed. And then suddenly the music stopped. The whispers cleared like snow in the sun, the warmth returned and the air filled his lungs. Yuta opened his eyes and came back. 

 

“So?” Kun asked after giving Yuta a minute to recover. He bit his lip again, Yuta figured it was a nervous habit. 

 

“That really took me by surprise.” Yuta started, he felt a bit breathless. “I don’t know what to say. That was absolutely amazing, it felt like I got transported to another place.” Yuta took a breath before continuing his rambling. “I swear the room got colder when you started playing, the whole atmosphere switched.” 

 

“Do you really think so?” Kun looked up at Yuta as the latter was sitting higher. Yuta nodded enthusiastically. “Can you give me a bit more feedback? Don’t you think the beginning is too boring?” Yuta took a sip of his coffee and savored the bitter flavour on his tongue as he thought about what to say.

 

“I thought the beginning was boring at first, but I think you should keep it that way.” Yuta began, Kun nodded at him to go on. “At first you think it’s just another one of those melancholic melodies, but then it switches around and pins you down. It felt rather ominous too, but in a good way. I think your piece would be perfect for movies.” Yuta finished. Kun seemed to fall into thought after, as if he was carefully going through every single comment Yuta just made. 

 

“But that’s what is wrong with it.” Kun said finally. Yuta shot him a confused look and waited for the other to elaborate. “We’re supposed to convey a certain feeling to the audience. We have to move them. It shouldn’t sound like a movie.” Kun explained. 

 

“But why can’t it sound like movie music? Music is such a fundamental part of a movie, the music is what really brings over the emotion to the people watching.” Yuta watched as Kun sunk back into thought.

 

“I guess you’re right, but what kind of emotion or feeling is that supposed to be.” Kun said exasperatedly while gesturing to his music sheet. 

 

“Vengeance?” Yuta asked himself. “I think vengeance that comes after sorrow is what it portraits best.” 

 

“In what way?” Kun asked curiously. 

 

“Like you got beaten down by something or someone, but got back up again to take back everything that was taken from you.” Yuta tried. He wasn’t completely sure of everything he was saying, but he felt comfortable enough with Kun to share his word vomit. Kun stayed quiet for a moment, again. 

 

“You really put it in a different light for me.” Kun laughed, which shocked Yuta a bit. “I really like that, thank you.” Kun looked so sincere and his eyes had that sparkle again and Yuta had to bite back a smile. 

 

“No, thank you for sharing that with me.” Silence fell again, but this time it wasn’t awkward. Music really was the best way of sharing something at times. Yuta felt like he actually got to know Kun just by those few minutes. Kun got up from the little bench and gestured for Yuta to make space on the table. Yuta shimmied a bit to the side to make space for Kun. “So, what are you gonna do with it?” Yuta asked, eyeing the piano and the sheet on top of it. 

 

“I’m not completely sure yet. But I think I won’t change much about it.” Kun smiled contently. Yuta nodded, clearly satisfied and took a sip of his coffee. He watched as Kun turned to face him properly. “Tell me about yourself.” Kun ordered. Yuta almost choked on his hot drink. 

 

“What do you wanna know?” Yuta raised an eyebrow in question after he managed to successfully swallow his coffee without dying. 

 

“I don’t know. Anything. I just showed me your music that counts as spilling my heart out. It’s only fair you tell me something in return.” There was a playful glint in Kun’s eyes. 

“I was born and raised in Osaka until I was sixteen and moved to South Korea.” Yuta started. Kun gave him an encouraging nod. “I’m a dance major, but I also get singing lessons and music theory. I live together in an apartment with one of my best friends Ten. I’ve known him since I moved here, we were both the only foreigners in our shared year in high school and have stuck together ever since. I used to be a soccer player and I love the band One Ok Rock.” Yuta summarised. 

 

“You were a soccer player? Interesting.” Kun hummed and Yuta didn’t know what to make of that. 

 

“Your turn.” Yuta nudged him with his elbow. Kun poked him back before speaking. 

 

“I’ve only lived here for about three years. I share a dorm with a couple of other Chinese students, Sicheng being one of them. I like the colour yellow and I’ve been playing the piano for as long as I can remember.” Kun sounded pretty satisfied with himself. “When did you start dancing?” He asked before taking a sip of his latte, looking up at Yuta through his lashes as he had slumped down a bit earlier. 

 

“I think I was eleven, but it was just a hobby for years. I only had my Troy Bolton moment when I was sixteen.” At that Kun laughed, hard. Yuta joined him quickly and laughter filled the practice room, bouncing of the walls. Yuta felt content. He was glad he was starting to get better at making friends, Johnny would be proud of him. At the end of the afternoon, after a few more hours of just talking with his new friend, Yuta felt light almost as if he had started a new beginning.   

\---

 

Yuta rounded the corner, eyes trained on the dance history book in his hand when he collided with something. Well, someone. Yuta dropped his book as he stumbled backwards a bit from the force. He heard something smack to the ground and suddenly his face was covered in something wet. He had closed his eyes due to the impact, but opened them carefully when he heard a gasp. Yuta squinted his eyes to make sure none of the liquid still seeping down his face would get into them and was met with Kun’s horrified expression. The Chinese boy was holding something that looked like a cooler and it was obviously too full. Yuta looked at the ground to see what he had dropped and saw a puddle of red. The air was filled with a hint of iron and Yuta felt his stomach churn. His horror was confirmed when he dragged two finger across his own cheeks and saw them coloured a dark crimson. His face was covered in blood and it was not his own. Yuta tried to open his mouth to scream, but he was frozen in shock. Kun finally seemed to get over his own shock and started to move. Yuta watched as he disappeared before his eyes and came back within a second, his mind slowly processing this information. 

 

“I am so so so sorry. Please let me explain.” Kun rambled as he grabbed Yuta’s wrist to drag him of to god’s knows where. Yuta flinched at Kun’s ice cold touch and things started to add up in his head. He let Kun drag him into one of the campus bathrooms and asked himself if he was going to die. Kun locked the bathroom door behind him and Yuta’s stomach started to fill up with some sort of dread. He saw his own reflection in one of the mirrors above the sinks and finally managed to get his voice back. 

 

“What the fuck. WHAT THE FUCK.” Yuta raised his voice, his eyes wide as he took a step away from Kun’s approaching figure. 

 

“Please let me explain.” Kun put up his hands and kept a fair distance as if Yuta was a frightened wild animal about to flee. He wasn’t wrong. Yuta saw the cooler that Kun had with him in the corner of the bathroom. There were three blood bags on top of the lid, one was completely empty except for a few drops. Yuta figured out that was the one that exploded in his face. His eyes were still on the blood bags and he finally connected all the dots. 

 

“You’re a vampire.” It wasn’t a question. 

 

“I am.” Kun said slowly as he took another careful step towards. “Please don’t be scared of me, I’m not going to hurt you.” At those words Yuta calmed down a bit. Not because he actually thought Kun was going to hurt him, but because of the slight tremble in his voice. Kun was just as shocked and scared as him. 

 

“I believe you, I’m not scared of you.” Yuta took a deep breath and let the nerves simmer down. Kun let out a sigh of relief and closed the gap between the two of them. He grabbed Yuta’s chin and inspected his face.

 

“I’m sorry you’re covered in someone else’s blood.” He said rather sheepishly as he brought Yuta over to one of the sinks. “I already checked the bag, it wasn’t from a sick person or anything. It’s just a bit old so as long as it doesn’t enter your body, you’re fine.” Kun rambled on as he grabbed a stack of paper towels and drenched them in water. He started to clean Yuta’s face and the latter was still processing the news about his new friend. He opened his mouth, but closed it almost immediately. “You can ask questions, you know.” Kun said as he was scrubbing Yuta’s brow with surprising fervor. 

 

“I’m just. I’m a little shocked.” Yuta said softly, his focus mostly on Kun’s cold hands on his face. The signs had been there right in the open, but too subtly to connect the dots. Never getting flushed or sweaty, never getting cold, disappearing out of nowhere, barely getting tired. “Sicheng, is he too-” Yuta started carefully.

 

“Yes, but please don’t tell him you know.” Kun interrupted as he wiped the last drops of blood out of Yuta’s eyebrows and moved on to his nose. “I need to sit down with him and tell him I slipped up, first.” Yuta’s eyes fluttered shut when Kun grabbed a new paper towel and carefully cleaned his cheekbones and cheeks.

 

“I won’t tell anyone, I know how dangerous it can be.” Yuta said. 

 

“Thank you.” 

 

“So are the rumours about Miss Bae true?” Yuta asked, as he remembered the articles he had read after researching the pen Kun had given him. It was also to fill the silence that was stretching between them. Even if the whole scene looked like it came out of a horror movie, having someone softly clean the blood of your face felt a little too intimate and brought his nerves back.

 

“Yes.” Kun sighed. “I mean I really got a scholarship, just like everyone else, and Irene really helps us achieve our dreams. But it’s also a cover up for the fact that it’s sort of an orphanage for lost vampires.” Yuta almost regretted asking since there was a sort of sorrow laced through Kun’s usual gentle voice and he didn’t like it. But curiosity got the best of him. “We’ve all lost our family and friends fairly recently. Some, a while ago, but they stick around since this is our family now. We can’t trust anyone but our own.” Kun’s voice grew colder than his skin and Yuta shivered.

 

“Why are you telling me this?” Yuta asked confused. “You could’ve just made me promise you to not tell anyone and move on.” 

 

“I don’t have any human friends left. I had to leave my home town with nothing but lies, because of this judgemental society. Your reaction makes me believe you’re different, so I would like to be honest to my new friend.” Kun said as he finished cleaning Yuta’s face. 

 

“Thank you for trusting me.” Yuta opened his eyes again. 

  
“Thank you for not being scared of me.” Kun smiled and Yuta swore it warmed the whole room. How could he ever be scared of someone as sweet and gentle as him.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!   
> Sorry for the long wait everyone, I have been terribly busy with college. But I hope you enjoy this nonetheless. In the next chapter the story will take off more and I will explain more about the whole vampire system. Please tell me what you think of it so far! You can find me on twitter (huangyuta) and curious cat (yukun).   
> See you next chapter~


	3. Let me in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Past the night sky, let me in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> Sorry for the long wait again, I'm sadly always busy with college.   
> I'm also sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than the first 2, but I'll try to make up for it in chapter 4.   
> Anyways, enjoy!

“Is that a new sweater?” Johnny asked from where he was sitting at the other end of the table. Yuta looked down at the soft baby blue sweater covering his torso. Kun had borrowed it to him after they noticed the blood had not only covered Yuta’s face but also a part of his jacket. 

 

“I borrowed it from Kun, he-” Yuta wasn’t sure what to say. He couldn’t exactly tell them his new friend spilled blood all over his face. “He bumped into to me this morning and spilled his coffee on me.” He decided on. Johnny’s lips formed an ‘oh’ before he turned back to his open text book in front of him. Yuta tried to do the same, but the words in his book about romanticism kept dancing through his vision. 

 

Yuta and his small group of friends were sitting at one of the tables in the on campus library. They had decided to be good responsible students for once and study in a place with minimum distractions. But that didn’t stop Yuta from losing focus every few seconds, his mind being too occupied with events from earlier that day. He sighed and closed his book, he wasn’t going to get anything done like this. Yuta looked over at his friends. Ten was sat next to him, diligently working on summarising the history of the classic ballet while slumping in his seat. Yuta smiled when he noticed his friend was playbacking to the music that was undoubtedly playing from the headphones covering Ten’s ears. He moved his gaze to Johnny and Taeyong across from him, who were in a similar state as himself. Taeyong, who had actually proposed the idea of studying in the library, had fallen asleep and was drooling all over Johnny’s textbook. The two had been sitting suspiciously close to each other and before they knew it Taeyong had wriggled himself between Johnny’s arms and had taken place on his homework, his soft snores filled the silence between them. Johnny seemed to not mind it one bit as he made no effort to retrieve his book and had opted to combing softly through Taeyong’s hair. 

 

“I can’t believe the one person that actually wanted to study here fell asleep after ten minutes.” Yuta joked. 

 

“He needs all the sleep he can get, you know how gets when midterms get near.” Johnny sighed, clearly worried. Yuta nodded in agreement. He watched his two best friends as Johnny continued to pet Taeyong’s head. There were dark circles underneath their eyes and Yuta realised it wasn’t only Taeyong who got a little too stressed during exam periods. Although Johnny was clearly exhausted, he looked relaxed as he got rid of the tangles in Taeyong’s hair. Yuta was glad they had each other. The two had been attached at the hip from the moment they met and their friendship had flowed easily. It reminded Yuta of how the four of them had met. 

 

Johnny and Taeyong had known each other for a few years already, since they lived in the same neighbourhood. Ten and Yuta had met in the first year of high school, they had both only just moved to South-Korea and the language barrier felt less heavy between them than with the other students. It wasn’t until the second year of high school until they became their little group of four. The school had made new classes and put all of them in the same one, friendship had followed quickly after. However, when their last year in high school started, something had changed. It wasn’t a bad thing, but a certain tension had appeared between Taeyong and Johnny. Yuta didn’t know if he could call it tension though, they had been closer than ever. Ten was the first one to find out. 

 

“Johnny has a crush on Taeyong.” Ten had stated when they were making their biology homework together. 

 

“Are you sure?” Yuta had asked. Ten had nodded frantically, as if that made his point more valid. 

 

“Have you seen the way he looks at Taeyong?” Ten had asked as if he was stating the obvious. That had made Yuta think, because something had in fact changed. 

 

“I suppose you’re right.” Yuta had agreed. 

 

It was Yuta that found out Johnny’s crush was requited. Taeyong had barged into Yuta’s room somewhere in the second half of their senior year, when everyone had started applying for colleges. Taeyong had flung himself onto Yuta’s bed, tears streaming down his face as mumbled something about Johnny leaving him. The problem had seemed to be that Johnny was thinking about moving back to Chicago for college and that had snapped something in Taeyong as the latter had accidently revealed his feelings during his breakdown in Yuta’s arms. He had fallen asleep right after he stopped crying, so Yuta was convinced Taeyong didn’t remember ever telling him. 

 

In the end Johnny didn’t move and a crush turned into love, but as far as Ten and Yuta knew neither had ever said something to the other about it. 

 

Yuta got pulled out of his thoughts when he felt someone squeeze his hand. He turned to the person who held his hand and was met with Ten stifling a yawn with his free hand. His headphones had been removed from his neck and hung loosely around is neck. 

 

“Can we go home? We still need to get groceries.” Ten asked softly as he patted his cheeks to keep himself awake. 

 

“How about we order take out, because you look way too tired to cook.” Yuta chuckled as he closed Ten’s book and removed his headphones from around his neck. Johnny watched them in silence as the two packed their stuff. 

 

“We should probably go too.” He wondered aloud. 

 

“Sounds like a good plan, you could both use some real sleep.” Yuta said as he pointed to the bags underneath Johnny’s eyes, the latter only gave him a sheepish smile. 

 

“Yongie, wake up.” Johnny softly shook Taeyong’s shoulder. It was all that was needed as Taeyong was a fairly light sleeper, he woke up almost immediately. “We’re going home.” Johnny said as he let Taeyong remove himself from his position in his arms. Yuta’s heart warmed a little when he saw the way Johnny smiled at Taeyong and he found himself wishing someone would look at him like that again. Yuta shook his head, hoping to bury that thought somewhere deep inside, and threw his backpack over his shoulder. 

 

“See you tomorrow.” He waved goodbye as Johnny helped Taeyong pack his stuff in his sleep induced state, before throwing his arm around Ten’s shoulder and leading him out of the library. 

 

\---

 

Yuta threw his backpack on his bed rather carelessly. He had just finished his first exam of the week, as midterms had started at last. Yuta decided to skip the books for the day and practice for his contemporary exam instead. They had to choreograph and perform a solo piece for two minutes and Yuta still wasn’t completely sure if his choreo was good enough. Ten had assured him he was probably going to get the highest grade out of all the second years, but Yuta still couldn’t rid himself of his insecurities. He opened his closet and grabbed a pair of black sweatpants and a simple white short sleeved shirt. Underneath the white shirt Yuta found the baby blue sweater Kun had borrowed to him a little over a week ago. Yuta couldn’t help but frown at the soft fabric. After their little incident they had exchanged phone numbers but instead of communicating more often, Kun seemed to be avoiding Yuta. Sicheng had been rather distant as well, so Yuta figured Kun had told him he knew his secret now. Yuta let out a sigh, this isn’t what he wanted. He just wanted to make a new friend and now he was scared he might be even losing one. But he wasn’t going to let that happen, he would just have to confront either Kun or Sicheng. Yuta grabbed the sweater from his closet and put it in his bag together with his dancing shoes. He figured that Kun had to be on campus too, studying for one of his exams or practicing his piano piece, so Yuta hoped he would run into him. Yuta slipped out of his room after changing into the more comfortable clothes he had grabbed earlier and bid farewell to Ten studying in the kitchen. 

 

Once Yuta walked through the gates that led to campus, he found it bustling with life. He wasn’t surprised to see so many students at once though. Exam season had started and most people were fighting for a place to study in the on campus library. However, this did make it more difficult for Yuta to ‘bump’ into Kun and to find an empty practice room. He quickened his step and made his way over to the student service desk to check himself in, in one of the dance studios. Yuta looked around the main hall of the main building as one of the staff members was getting one of the dance studio’s keys for him. He thought he saw a blur of pink hair disappear into one of the side hallways and he made a mental note to text Taeyong later. Yuta turned back to the desk as the staff member returned with the right key. Just as he took the key, Yuta spotted a familiar face entering the main hall. He quickly thanked the staff member before hurrying back to the door he came in a few minutes ago. 

 

“Kun!” He called out as he quickened his pace to make sure he didn’t lose the vampire. 

“Yuta, hi.” Kun said rather awkwardly. “Good to run into you again.” 

 

“You don’t have to lie, I know you have been avoiding me.” Yuta said. Kun flinched a bit at that. 

 

“I’m sorry.” Kun said sincerely. “I just don’t know how to do this now you know.” 

 

“It’s okay.” Yuta reassured, because it really was okay. “I understand why you did it, although I wish you didn’t.” 

 

“It’s just hard.” 

 

“I figured. Anyways, I just wanted to give you your sweater back.” Yuta started as he opened his back to look for the piece of clothing. “And I was also kinda hoping you still trusted me to at least talk to me.” He tried. 

 

“I do, I do trust you surprisingly. I know you won’t tell anyone.” Kun sighed as he took his sweater from Yuta, their hands brushing against one another briefly. “I’ll stop avoiding you, I don’t even really know why I did it in the first place.” 

 

“That would be nice.” Yuta smiled. “Can you also ask Sicheng to stop avoiding me?” He asked, a small pout on display. 

 

“Ah, yes. He panicked a bit when I told him you found out. I’ll tell him to stop worrying.” Kun rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. 

 

“Thank you. I’ll see you around I hope?” Yuta asked hopefully as he threw his backpack over his shoulder again. 

 

“Wait. Would you like to study together?” Kun asked before Yuta could walk away. 

 

“I’m actually going to practice in one of the dancing studios, but you’re welcome to join me if you can study with background music.” Yuta offered. 

 

“Well, lead the way.” Kun smiled at him, Yuta felt himself smiling back. 

 

A couple of minutes later Yuta let himself and Kun into one of the practice rooms and closed the door behind them. He watched as Kun looked around curiously, as if he had never been in one before. Yuta figured he had only ever seen the inside of the ballet rooms when he had provided Sicheng’s class with live music. 

 

“There aren’t any tables, but the couch in the back is comfortable enough to study on.” Yuta pointed to the old couch in the corner and prayed for Kun that no sweaty bodies had taken place on it in the morning. “I’ll turn the volume of the music down if it bothers you.” Yuta offered as he made his way over to the stereo. 

 

“Turn it up as loud as you want, I’ve learned to zone out noise.” Kun said as if it was the most normal thing to say. 

 

“You’ve learned to do what?” Yuta stopped in his tracks. 

 

“It’s very loud at home.” Kun said while rummaging through his bag, he had taken place on the couch.

 

“Elaborate.” Yuta said mildly amused. 

 

“The dorm Sicheng told you about is actually a huge mansion with quite a lot of vampires living in it.” Kun explained as he got a book out of his bag. “With that many vampires living together, especially so many younger ones, things can get loud. There’s a lot of yelling.” Kun chuckled. 

 

“I see.” Yuta smiled to himself. Even if Kun had to leave his past life behind, Yuta was glad he had a new family to come home to. Yuta send Kun one last look, he had opened his book, before connecting the stereo to his phone. He put on the song he had chosen at the start of the semester for his choreo and moved to the middle of the room.

 

A Japanese song filled his ears and made his brain hazy with nostalgia, he had chosen it for that reason. His dad used to hum it while working in the garden, his mom used to whisper the lyrics while cooking and his sister sang it countless times for him as a lullaby. Without thinking Yuta moved his body to the music, the choreo already etched into his brain. Halfway through the song he noticed Kun’s eyes on him through the ceiling high mirrors and he put just a tad bit more effort in the way he moved. Yuta wanted to impress him after Kun had blown him away with his piano piece. He let his body flow with music and let his limbs do most of the work as he tried to keep his mind focused on nothing. And just like that, the song ended. Yuta let the song loop, only turning the volume down a bit. He turned to Kun as he had been clapping for him. 

 

“Yuta, that was amazing!” He exclaimed and Yuta hoped the blood rushing to his cheeks wasn’t too visible. 

 

“Weren’t you supposed to study.” Yuta muttered, not knowing how to respond to the praise. He lowered himself to the ground to do his stretches, he probably should’ve done them before dancing. 

 

“How am I supposed to study when you’re dancing in front of me like that.” Kun laughed and the blush on Yuta’s cheeks deepened. “How are you not tired right now?” 

 

“Maybe I’m also a vampire and never get tired by exercise?” Yuta teased as he stretched one of his legs in front of him, he bend over to touch his toes. 

 

“I would know if you were.” Kun said, an amused glint in his eyes.  

 

“Really? You can tell if someone is a vampire or not?” Yuta asked, he pulled his leg back and stretched the other one. 

 

“Yes, I would know immediately. It’s like a sixth sense.” Kun explained. 

 

“Are there any other things you can do that humans can’t do?” Yuta asked curiously. Kun tapped his chin thoughtfully as he pulled his legs onto the couch and crossed them. 

 

“We can move really fast and we have super strength.” Kun thought aloud while Yuta just nodded along. “Oh yeah, we can’t die.” Kun deadpanned. 

 

“Not at all?” Yuta asked, he couldn’t really grasp the whole concept of living forever. Immortality didn’t make sense to him, how could someone live forever? 

 

“Well, of course there are ways. But in general we don’t die, at least not of normally fatal wounds, old age, and diseases.” Kun said. 

 

“What if you cut of your hand? What happens then?” Yuta asked. He had given up on stretching and had scooted closer to the couch to face Kun properly. 

 

“If I grab my detached hand and hold it against the wrist it was separated from for a minute, it’ll attach itself again.” 

 

“You’re like a lizard.” Yuta gasped. Kun let out a startled laugh. 

 

“I’m not like a lizard, I just can’t die.” 

 

“You’re indestructible.” Yuta muttered mostly to himself. “Oh my god, you will defeat Thanos.” He said louder this time. Kun cackled loudly in response. 

 

“I’m not indestructible, I can die from a lack of blood just like you can die from a lack of food.” Kun said as he closed his book, realising he wasn’t going to get much studying done like this. “Although, I’m pretty sure that if you cut of my head and yeet it out of the window I will die.” 

 

“Gruesome, I love it.” Yuta chuckled. Kun looked at him with a certain look, Yuta recognized it as amazement. 

 

“You are so calm and chill about this.” Kun noted. 

 

“Well, yeah.” Yuta shrugged, tugging at a loose string that belonged to the sweatpants he was wearing. “You’re still you, nothing has changed.” He looked up to meet Kun’s eyes, his gaze was unreadable and Yuta didn’t know what to think of that. 

 

“Go on like that and I might even show you the mansion.” Kun joked.

 

“You would?” Yuta asked surprised. 

 

“Maybe one day.” Yuta liked that, it implied that Kun was prepared to put effort into this friendship. “At least, if you’re not already annoyed with me by then.” 

 

“If you’re like this all the time I don’t think I’ll ever be annoyed by you.” Yuta laughed. 

 

“Who says this is the real me?” Kun wiggled his eyebrows playfully. 

 

“Show me the real you then.” Yuta shot back, a grin displayed on his lips. Maybe there was a little more suggestion in that sentence than Yuta meant, but Kun didn’t seem bothered by it. He looked more impressed than anything else. 

 

\---

 

Yuta jumped in his chair when a bag dropped right in front of him on the table he was sitting at in the lunch hall. He calmed down when he saw Kun sitting down across from him. Yuta was about to greet him when he spotted another person sitting next to him. 

 

“Sicheng!” Yuta exclaimed. Sicheng smiled at him rather sheepishly. It had been some time since they last saw each other, not even two weeks but it felt longer, and Yuta figured the reason was him knowing that Sicheng was a vampire. 

 

“Sorry for avoiding you, Kun explained everything to me.” Sicheng said, still sheepishly. Yuta gestured for him to just drop it. 

 

“How did your dance exam go?” Kun asked sincerely, his blond hair almost falling into his eyes.  

 

“I think it went really well.” Yuta answered as he tried to bite back a smile. Kun had given him just that last push of confidence he needed the day before and he had absolutely killed it on the stage as Ten liked to call it. 

 

“I’m glad, I knew you could do it.” Kun smiled and Yuta felt his heart stutter for just a moment. He decided to ignore that for now. 

 

“How did ballet go, Sicheng? I heard that you had to choreograph your own piece too.” Yuta asked as he got his lunch from his bag.  

 

 “Ah, yes. It went really well.” Sicheng said enthusiastically. “Min- miss Myoui said she really liked it.” 

 

“You can say Mina, we might as well tell him.” Kun rolled his eyes. 

 

“Tell me what?” Yuta asked confused. 

 

“Kun told you about the mansion we live in with other vampires right?” Sicheng asked, Yuta nodded in confirmation. “Mina, miss Myoui my ballet teacher, lives there too.” 

 

“Miss Myoui is a vampire?” Yuta asked a little too loud. He quickly slapped his hand over his mouth before lowering it again and flashing the other two an apologetic smile. 

 

“Taeil, mr Moon, one of the music theory teachers too.” Kun added and Yuta recognised the name from one of their past conversations. 

 

“Oh, who else?” Yuta asked curiously. 

 

“That’s a story for another time.” Kun said as his gaze landed on something behind him. Yuta followed his line of sight and turned around. He was met with the approaching figures of his three best friends. 

 

“Hey, Sicheng. It’s been a while.” Johnny smiles as he takes place next to Yuta. 

 

“I don’t think we’ve met before.” Taeyong said to Kun as he took place next to Johnny. Yuta watched Ten stand next to the table with mild amusement as Kun introduced himself. There was only one chair left, next to Sicheng, but Ten had always been a little impressed by him. It took him a moment, but Ten finally sat down and Yuta a stifled a laugh as he saw a blush creep on his best friend’s cheeks. 

 

“So how did you two become friends anyway?” Taeyong asked, gesturing between Yuta and Kun with one hand and searching through his bag with the other. Yuta looked at the other boy in question in panic. They hadn’t discussed this yet and they couldn’t simply say they started talking and then Kun threw blood in his face revealing his biggest secret, which creates a bond in a very morbid way. 

 

“I lent him my pen.” Kun said, his voice a bit unsure. Yuta wanted to punch him. 

 

“That sounds like the start of a very cheesy love story.” Taeyong joked while opening a tupperware box filled with grapes. 

 

“Says you.” Ten snorted, saving Yuta from embarrassing himself. Taeyong stuck his tongue out to Ten before throwing a grape at his head. Ten screeched as he ducked his head to the table. Sicheng next to him quickly caught the grape and plopped it in his mouth while smiling to Ten’s cowering figure on the surface beneath them. 

 

“No, but really we just started talking a bit and then realised we had a common friend and now we’re here.” Kun intervened before they got too far of topic. Taeyong seemed satisfied with that explanation, so Yuta gently nudged Kun’s leg underneath the table to convey his gratitude. For the rest of their shared lunch break Yuta sat back and watched his friends converse. Kun seemed to get along with Johnny and Taeyong just splendidly. He especially got along with Johnny as they had found a similar interest in photography. Ten had found his confidence back and was talking animatedly with Sicheng. And before he knew it, numbers had been exchanged and promises for future shared lunch breaks had been made. When lunch was over, Johnny Taeyong and Sicheng got up for class again and Ten quickly made an excuse to walk Sicheng to his classroom, leaving Yuta and Kun alone. 

 

“Your friends are really nice.” Kun smiled as he waved at the others who were walking out the cafeteria. 

 

“They like you.” Yuta said, he could tell. Kun’s smile only widened. 

 

“I like them too.” Kun said sincerely. 

 

“Aren’t you scared of getting too involved in my life and with my friends carrying a secret like that?” Yuta asked curiously, hoping he didn’t cross a line. 

 

“Like I said before, I trust you. I trust that you won’t tell your friends about me until I’m ready to tell them myself.” Kun shrugged. 

 

“You don’t have to tell them.” Yuta assured. Although he wasn’t sure if he could carry this secret to the grave. 

 

“I don’t like keeping things from my friends, so I have to eventually. Just like I have to tell everyone at home that you know.” Kun seemed relaxed which made Yuta more relaxed too. 

 

“Are they going to be mad at you?” Yuta would feel bad if his friend got in trouble because of his clumsy tendencies. 

 

“Oh, no. You don’t have to worry about. They might force me to let them meet you.” Kun wonderd out loud. “But they won’t be scared of you telling others and exposing us, we’ve got our ways to prevent that from happening.” 

 

“That doesn’t sound ominous at all.” Yuta said, slight dread lacing his voice which made Kun laugh. 

 

“You shouldn’t worry about that.” Kun assured him.   

 

“I’ll try.” Yuta couldn’t help but smile at Kun’s happy laughter. 

 

“Good. I have to go to class now, but I’ll see you and your friends tomorrow.” Kun said as he got up from his place across Yuta. 

 

“See you tomorrow.” Yuta smiled at Kun’s back as the latter made his way out of the lunch hall. Maybe expanding his friend group was a good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this slightly shorter chapter. Thank you for reading!  
> Also I apologise if this chapter feels a bit weird. It was a bit of a filler as I'm trying to really start the story, but I don't want to rush Yuta and Kun's relationship too much. I'll speed up things a bit in the next chapter and promise there will be a bit more action too. Again thank you for reading. Comments and kudos are always welcome, as they always motivate me to write more.   
> You can also find me on twitter (huangyuta) and curious cat (yukun). 
> 
> See you next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first chaptered fic on ao3. Bear with me for a moment, though. The actual story will unfold more in the second chapter as I need to introduce the world a bit first. I always appreciate feedback, so if anyone wants to drop some please do. I hope you enjoy this!
> 
> You can find me on twitter, I go by the username huangyuta.


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